Monthly Archives: December 2013

Goodbye 2013

Leave a reply

Annual Report

A lot of time was wasted on the motion control system again in 2013 but I think we have a solid solution going into 2014 even though it hasn’t been thoroughly tested yet.

I am sitting on a lot of inventory because of these experiments.  Please check out my eBay store if you need any industrial automation components!

Also found that all USB hubs are not created equally.  I bought a cheap 7-port unit from China and it ended up having a bum port.  I got a full refund but am still using that unit because it works more reliably than a pair of cheap 10-port replacement units that I purchased.  Now I am convinced you have to spend $3 per port instead of $1 per port.

Image1      Image2

Virtual Systems

Leave a reply

Started working a couple days ago on the systems and components that will be simulated by the computer.

Dropship Flat-Z Plan View

Dropship Flat-Z Plan View w/ 1×1 Ft. Grid

A couple significant changes from the UD-4L we all know and love:

  • Butterfly tail design was replaced with a T-tail similar in scale to the C-17
  • Turbojets have been replaced with EDF and waveguide plasma
  • Ramrockets have integrated with the EDF nacelles and replaced with toroidal aerospikes
  • Vectored thrust has been integrated at the exhaust end of the nacelles (swivel)

Most of the changes were due to the theater we are operating in. Venus has no oxygen to make the turbojet/ramjet/scramjet beneficial so we transition straight from turbofan to rocket operations on ascent.

Currently, we are looking at 3 hydraulic loops with 2 pumps and 1 reservoir each and 2 coolant loops with 1 pump and 1 reservoir each. The 2 coolant loops exchange heat with the cryogenic fuel and oxidizer respectively.